A woman who couldn't sit up for more than 30 minutes without fainting was diagnosed with a rare connective tissue disorder after her symptoms were dismissed as anxiety.

Crystal Bradley, 23, grew up constantly on crutches and braces from dislocating her joints.

When she hit her late teens she started to struggle with "crippling migraines", light and sound sensitivity and even became housebound."

Doctors dismissed her symptoms for anxiety but her pain continued to get worse.

She would crack her neck to help with the agony she was in and went to see a chiropractor for a year - which she later found out had worsened her condition.

After seeking several opinions she was finally diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) -

a group of rare inherited conditions that affect connective tissue - in February 2024.

Crystal was also told she had cervical instability - where the upper spine's ligaments become loose and cause nerve pain - cerebrospinal fluid leaks and perineural cysts.

She had blood patches - where doctors take a sample of blood and inject it into the spinal canal - to treat the leak which has helped Crystal get back on her feet.

She now wears a neck brace and is looking into a risky surgery - cervical fusion - to continue to help her condition and pain.

Crystal, a regulatory chemist, from Boston, Massachusetts, US, said: "I didn't get diagnosed until I was 23."

"They were treating me for anxiety."

"For a while I truly believed that I was making myself sick because I was too anxious."

Crystal grew up with a variety of different symptoms and health problems.

She said: "The biggest one for me was my joints would just dislocate."

"I was always on braces and crutches."

Crystal started to struggle with migraines in 2017 and it became so severe she became housebound.

She said: "I had crippling migraines."

"Migraine like episodes that would leave me in a dark quiet room for day."

"I had sensitivity to light and sound."

Doctors didn't know what was wrong and would instead treat her for anxiety.

She went to college in Boston and saw psychologists and psychiatrists throughout.

She said: "I was still left with all the physical symptoms."

Crystal was then told to see a chiropractor and would also constantly crack her own neck and back - which ended up making her undiagnosed cervical instability worse.

She said: "Why I was cracking my neck habitually was to release pain."

"I was cracking my whole back as well."

"I would turn around, grab my hips and twist my back that way."

"It turns out I was stretching the ligaments and the nerves next to the spine."

Crystal continued to seek answers for her pain but doctors continued to dismiss her symptoms.

She said: "They said 'I think you're perfectly fine and you need to see a therapist'."

Crystal got dramatically worse and started fainting regularly in Autumn 2023.

She said: "I started fainting with upright positions and having severe nausea and vomiting as well as swallowing difficulty where my throat will sometimes just kind of give out."

"I couldn't sit up for more than a half hour without fainting."

Crystal dislocated her jaw and had to be put in a neck brace - but still didn't have any answers.

From her own research she thought it could be connective tissue disorders but struggled to see a neurologist to get a diagnosis as she claims many are sceptical of the conditions.

After fighting to see one he suggested she go directly to a Ehlers-Danlos specialist.

Crystal reached out to several in October 2023 and flew out to meet one in February 2024 in Baltimore, Maryland.

She said: "He was positive it was a connective tissue disorder and EDS."

"He was the first one to be like 'I believe you'."

The specialist wanted to treat Crystal straight away for her cerebrospinal fluid leaks and she had blood patches in late February 2024.

She said: "I was back on my feet. It went well."

Crystal was told not to bend or stretch for three months before she started some physical therapy.

But her doctor now believe she has a tethered cord and is looking into surgery options.

One option is to remove a damaged disc and fuse an adjacent vertebrae but the surgery is risky and doctors worry it can cause joints to degenerate after fusion.

Crystal's pain is now up and down but she has been able to get back to work.

She feels hopeful she is finally on the right track to get the help and answers she needs.